Hosted by the French Institute in Athens and supported by Unifrance, this year's festival will take place from March 31 through April 8 in Athens and April 7 through 12 in Thessalonica.
A tribute to Claude Chabrol featuring fifteen titles by the renowned director will be inaugurated on April 1 at the Greek Cinematheque by Costa-Gavras, with a screening of Merci Pour le Chocolat held in the presence of the actress Anna Mouglalis.
This year's festival patron, Ms. Mouglalis will present five films of her choice to Greek audiences as part of a Carte Blanche program, and will introduce Samuel Benchetrit's film Chez Gino, in which she stars.
The festival jury led by Theo Angelopoulos will select from among fourteen feature films in the official competition: Point Blank by Fred Cavayé, Bellamy by Claude Chabrol, Carlos by Olivier Assayas, Two in the Wave by Emmanuel Laurent, Sarah's Key by Gilles Paquet-Brenner, Happy Few by Antony Cordier, Outside the Law by Rachid Bouchareb, The Names of Love by Michel Leclerc, Lily Sometimes by Fabienne Berthaud, Potiche by François Ozon, Quartier lointain by Sam Gabarski, A View of Love by Nicole Garcia, A Screaming Man by Mahamat Saleh-Saroun, and Black Venus by Abdellatif Kechiche.
A screening of Potiche will open the festival in the presence of Catherine Deneuve. Other festival guests include Pierre Bergé for Yves Saint Laurent - Pierre Bergé, l'amour fou, Nicole Garcia and Marie-José Croze for A View of Love, Fabienne Berthaud, Diane Kruger, and Ludivine Sagnier for Lily Sometimes, Anthony Cordier and Elodie Bouchez for Happy Few, Renaud Fely and Yannick Rénier for Pauline et François, Michael Cohen for It Begins With the End and Emmanuel Laurent for Two in the Wave. Claudia Cardinale will be presented with an Honorary Award.
Ten films will be showcased out-of-competition in the Panorama of Francophone Films. These include a screening of Donoma, which will be followed by a master class led by its director Djinn Carrenard. Produced by a collective of artists, the film reflects the new generation of Greek filmmakers' attempts to break free of traditional modes of film production in Greece. Midnight screenings aimed at young audiences complete the festival program.
The festival will close with a screening of Nicostratos by Olivier Horlait, held in the presence of the director and Emir Kusturica, who plays in the film. Shot in the Cyclades Islands, the film marks the launch of reforms in the Greek film industry's policy on films shot in Greece, with an announcement scheduled by the country's culture minister.
In 2010, 36 French productions hit movie screens in Greece. These titles attracted close to 500,000 spectators, representing a 4% rise in attendance over 2009. 22 Bullets by Richard Berry, which closed the festival in 2010, registered 70,000 admissions, the year's most successful French-language film.
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